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Antidote to Cynicism? Analyzing The Hunger Games

Some more reading on The Hunger Games film. This is from Logan Nakyanzi Pollard at The Huffington Post.

The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross, made some $155 million opening weekend, and if you’re among the few who haven’t seen it yet, stop reading here.

This is one of those old school essays I used to write, not as a critic, but just because it’s important to write about things — to look at them and try to understand them. I’m telling you this because Hunger’s got a rich subtext, it’s a kind of movie-within-a-movie, which may explain its success and wide appeal.

For some, “IT’S THE NEW TWILIGHT!” And by that I’m assuming the ticket master is referring to the gaggle of teens bouncing around the lobby waiting for the movie to begin. This film is based on the first in a trilogy of best-selling books by Suzanne Collins and has a strong teeny-bopper protagonist, who like-totally-loves two nice boys from her town, and like Twilight’s Bella, has to find her way in the world with derring-do.

But this is no Twilight.

It’s one of the toughest satires of modern culture I’ve seen in awhile. It made me think of Series 7 and Logan’s Run and other films, like 1984 and A Clockwork Orange… and like those movies, I felt sad watching them, even as I was moved by the effectiveness of the storytelling.